In NHRA:
The Arizona Nationals came just one week after Pomona and already one can see a glimpse of the future...or shouldn't we put too much stock in repeat performance or strength in numbers. Fine, let's not get ahead of ourselves.
In Top Fuel, Antron Brown made a 3.7793 et, 319.82 mph pass to win over teammate Tony Schumacher. An all Don Schumacher Racing final and it was Brown's 32nd win career win, with 16 wins in Top Fuel and 16 in Pro Stock Motorcycle.
In Funny Car, for a second week in a row it was an all John Force Racing final. This time Robert Hight raced his teammate Mike Neff and defeated him with a 4.139 et, 307.07 mph.
In Pro Stock, as was the case with Top Fuel and Funny Car, a pair of teammates lined up in the finals, with Jason Line going up against Greg Anderson and beating him. Our friend Rob Downing has it going on!
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| John Force with daughter Courtney |
I particularly loved the fact that a rookie upstaged the legend. Daughter Courtney forced legendary racer and father John to stage first. For those who don't know John, he likes (read always) to stage last. And to everybody's surprise, she beat him off the line and got the win (though he had to back off when he broke loose due to dropping some cylinders). She made to the semi's but lost to teammate Hight.
In each of the pro categories, teammates raced each other in the final round. For the fan's sake, I hope that at the next race we will have different drivers going to the finals. But then again, it is up to the other teams to step up to the plate and do a better job!
Next race will be the Gatornationals on March 8, where the Pro Bikes will join the rest of the group.
By the way, Funny Car rookie Alexis de Joria is improving with each pass. In Saturday morning's qualifying session, her "Camry" put out a few holes on the right side causing it to make a hard left (similar situation to John Force's). From the picture on the right you can see how the car veers hard to the left (look for the tire tracks) and causing her to have her hands full. She did caress the wall ever so gently.
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| Alexis brushes the wall in practise |
In NASCAR:
Nascar kicked off its 2012 season with the running of the Bud Shootout. This also marks the start of its week long run up to the biggest race of the year, the Daytona 500. Most championships end their season with their biggest race or game (take for example American Football with their superbowl), but Nascar does just the opposite. And in a way, it works for it forces everyone to focus on starting the season at their very very best!
And so I tuned in Saturday night to watch the Bud shootout on Fox (click here to see a recap).
If you're not a fan, you must see this for yourself. Nascar is synonymous with close racing....eerr bumping and grinding.
This race has a peculiar format which we won't get into, but needless to say, it assures for lots of excitement. There were three large wrecks (as they call them) and a couple of close calls. One in which Kyle Bush was nudged from behind causing him to loose control going at 200 mph and somehow (he is awesome driver) kept it without going into the wall or other cars. On the other hand, Jeff Gordon who bumped Kyle did crash and put his #24 car on its roof. That is what some call "karma."
Kyle Bush had two tremendous saves and went on to win the race.
Kyle is a polarizing driver but also an undeniably a great driver. After the race, even his harshest critics admit that the boy can drive. I believe that with this outing, he has single-handedly ensured for increased viewers for the coming races, if not for the entire year.
If you're not a fan, you must see this for yourself. Nascar is synonymous with close racing....eerr bumping and grinding.
This race has a peculiar format which we won't get into, but needless to say, it assures for lots of excitement. There were three large wrecks (as they call them) and a couple of close calls. One in which Kyle Bush was nudged from behind causing him to loose control going at 200 mph and somehow (he is awesome driver) kept it without going into the wall or other cars. On the other hand, Jeff Gordon who bumped Kyle did crash and put his #24 car on its roof. That is what some call "karma."
Kyle Bush had two tremendous saves and went on to win the race.
Kyle is a polarizing driver but also an undeniably a great driver. After the race, even his harshest critics admit that the boy can drive. I believe that with this outing, he has single-handedly ensured for increased viewers for the coming races, if not for the entire year.
Source: Dragillustrated.
Photo credits: NHRA, toyotaracing, autoweek.
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